APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR SECURING SOLAR PANEL CELLS TO A SUPPORT FRAME
A clamp assembly for clamping one or more solar panel cells to a supporting frame rail. The clamp assembly may have a clamp body, an insert and a fastener. The clamp body may have a neck portion and a pair of shoulders extending generally perpendicular to the neck portion. The shoulders may be adapted to overlay edges of a pair of adjacently positioned solar panel cells resting on a frame rail. The insert may be sized to be inserted into the neck portion, with the insert having a plurality of teeth formed along its length. The insert may be captured within the neck portion of the clamp body so as to be non-removable therefrom, but still able to be rotated within the clamp body. The threaded fastener may be pressed into the insert and captured by the teeth, and then once a head portion thereof is positioned within a channel of the frame rail, the insert may be rotated to tighten the fastener and clamp the edges of the pair of solar panel cells to the frame rail.
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The present disclosure relates to solar panel frame systems, and more particularly to an apparatus and method for quickly and easily securing a solar panel cell on to a supporting frame member.
BACKGROUNDThe statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Renewable energy sources are growing dramatically in popularity world-wide. One such type of renewable energy is solar energy. Typically solar energy is harnessed through the use of one more solar panel cells that are used to receive the Sun's solar energy and to convert same into usable electric power that can be used to power a wide variety of electric devices in home or commercial applications. More typically a solar panel installation will be made up of a large plurality of independent solar cells that cooperatively form a solar panel “array”. The precise number of solar panel cells employed to form the array may vary considerably, but in large applications dozens, hundreds or even thousands of independent solar panel cells will be employed to form the array.
The cost of installing a solar panel array is often a significant portion of the overall system cost. Often the labor associated with performing the installation may alone run 30% or more of the total system cost. This is because installation of the solar panel systems is a labor intensive process. Typically at least two workers will work to assemble the support frame on which the solar panel cells will be supported. The support frame is secured to a support surface, typically either a roof of a structure (e.g., residence or commercial building) or a collection of concrete footings. The support frame is typically formed by an interconnected plurality of frame rails having upwardly opening, elongated channels. The independent solar panel cells are then laid onto the frame rails and positioned so that they are separated by a reasonably uniform distance. Between adjacent solar panel cells, a worker needs to insert a clamp assembly into the frame rail assembly. Typically the clamp has a threaded bolt with a head portion that is positioned within the channel of a frame rail. The clamp assembly also typically has a top hat-like portion that engages the threaded bolt and is used to clamp on to the edges of two adjacently positioned solar panel cells to hold them securely against movement on the frame rail. The clamp assembly needs to be relatively precisely positioned in the rail prior to tightening it onto the edges of two adjacent solar panel cells.
Tightening of the clamp assembly can be troublesome as it typically does not stand straight up once it is inserted into the channel of the frame rail. Moreover, the top hat-like portion will drop down along the threaded shaft unless one worker holds it in an elevated position to clear the upper peripheral edges of the two solar panel cells that it is being used to clamp to the frame rail. So almost always, two workers are need to align and secure the solar panel cells using a conventional clamp assembly: one worker to hold the top hat like portion in an elevated position, while another worker positions one of the two panels along the frame rails so that the top hat portion can be released and rest on the edges of the two frame rails. Next, one of the workers places a relatively small nut on the free end of the threaded shaft and starts the nut onto the threaded shaft by hand. The worker may then use a suitable wrench or power implement to finish tightening the threaded nut to the proper torque needed to clamp the top hat-like portion onto the edges of the two adjacent solar panel cells. Of course, handling of the small threaded nuts also adds extra time to the installation process. Where an installation is done in cold weather, workers may have difficulty handling small nuts while wearing gloves, and occasionally a worker may drop a nut while attempting to start it on to a fastener. Also, when tightening the threaded nuts, care must be taken not to over tighten the nuts, which might cause damage to the edges of the solar panel cells.
From the foregoing it will be appreciated that securing the above described conventional clamp assemblies most typically necessitates the use of two workers, as well as significant time to tighten down the conventional threaded nuts that are used. When one imagines an installation where hundreds or thousands of solar panel cells are being installed to form an array, the time and manpower required to install conventional fastening assemblies, and the handling of thousands of small threaded nuts, can lead to very significant expense and long installation times.
SUMMARYIn one aspect the present disclosure relates to a clamp assembly comprising a clamp body, an inset and a fastener. The clamp body may have a neck portion and a pair of shoulders extending generally perpendicular to the neck portion. The shoulders may be adapted to overlay edges of a pair of adjacently positioned solar panel cells resting on a frame rail. The insert may be sized to be inserted into the neck portion, with the insert having a plurality of teeth formed along its length. The insert may be captured within the clamp body so as to be non-removable therefrom, but still able to be rotated within the clamp body. The threaded fastener is adapted to be pressed into the insert and captured by the teeth. The fastener may have a head portion adapted to be captured within a channel of the frame rail. Rotation of the insert via a tool enables the fastener to be threadably advanced into the insert, to thus enable the shoulders to clamp the edges of the pair of solar panel cells to the frame rail.
Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the description provided herein. It should be understood that the description and specific examples are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
The drawings described herein are for illustration purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure in any way.
Referring to
With further reference to
With further reference to
With further reference to
As shown in
Referring to
The slots 60 are arranged so that they may engage the upwardly bent tabs 38 when the centering post 62 is placed into the bore 32a of the insert 14. Thus, when the tool 56 is rotated, the rotational torque applied via the tool 56 will cause the entire insert 14 to rotate relative to the fastener 46. Once a predetermined torque is reached, the tabs 38 will no longer be able to remain in their upward positions (shown in
The process of using the clamp assembly 10 may be described as follows. With reference to
With further reference to
Once the clamp body 12 of each clamp assembly 10 has been pressed down into the position shown in
The clamp assembly 10 thus completely eliminates the need for the installer to handle threaded nuts and to manually start each of the threaded nuts onto a threaded fastener of a clamp assembly. This significantly expedites the clamping of the solar panel cells to a supporting frame rail. The clamp assembly 10 further allows a single installer to pre-position the clamp assemblies 10 at approximate locations, and then to release them and use both hands as needed to manipulate the solar panel cells as needed to perform the final alignment before the clamp assemblies 10 are fully tightened down. Thus, it is expected that the clamp assembly 10 may allow a single installer to perform installations where typically two installers may have been required.
Referring now to
In use the removal tool 78 is first positioned on the head portion 34 of the insert 14 and aligned with the flattened tabs 38 so that the teeth 86 lie between adjacent pairs of the flattened tabs 38. When the tool is rotated counterclockwise the beveled surfaces 88 of the teeth 86 tend to “dig” under the flattened tabs 38 and lift them to almost a vertical orientation. As counterclockwise rotation of the removal tool 78 continues, the teeth 86 slide under a lower surface of each tab 38 as the tabs 38 are lifted. The teeth 86 then reach the edges of the tangs 36 and further counterclockwise rotation causes the entire insert 14 to rotate counterclockwise, thus unthreading the insert 14 from the fastener 46.
It will be appreciated then that the head portion 34 of the insert 14, once the insert 14 is tightened fully onto the fastener 46 and the tabs 38 are flattened, forms a desirable security feature. Since the tabs 38 are flattened down, without the removal tool 78, one attempting to unclamp the clamp assemblies 10 would need to use a screwdriver or some other implement to pry up the flattened tabs 38, and then possibly a pair of needle nose pliers to rotate the insert 14 counterclockwise. Thus, loosening of the clamp assembly 10 once it is fully tightened onto a solar panel cell can be difficult and time consuming. It is believed that this feature may significantly deter tampering and/or theft of solar panel cells that are secured using the clamp assembly 10.
It will also be appreciated that while the clamp assembly 10 is shown having two shoulders 18, that the clamp body 12 could just as readily be formed with only a single shoulder. Such an embodiment is shown in
The following description is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the present disclosure, application, or uses. While various embodiments have been described, those skilled in the art will recognize modifications or variations which might be made without departing from the present disclosure. The examples illustrate the various embodiments and are not intended to limit the present disclosure. Therefore, the description and claims should be interpreted liberally with only such limitation as is necessary in view of the pertinent prior art.
Claims
1. (canceled)
2. A clamp assembly comprising:
- a clamp body having a head portion, a neck portion, and at least one shoulder projecting laterally from the head portion;
- a tubular insert adapted to be inserted within the clamp body, the insert including a tooth;
- a threaded fastener threadably inserted into the insert to engage the tooth, the fastener including an enlarged head portion sized to fit within a channel of a frame rail; and
- rotation of the insert operating to threadably advance the insert onto the fastener, and draw the at least one shoulder against an edge of a solar panel frame to clamp the solar panel frame against the frame rail.
3. The clamp assembly of claim 2, wherein the insert comprises a plurality of spaced apart teeth for threadably engaging the threaded fastener.
4. The clamp assembly of claim 2, wherein the enlarged head portion of the threaded fastener forms a T-shape in connection with a shaft portion of the threaded fastener, the enlarged head portion being sized to be captured within the channel of the frame rail after rotating a degree in response to initial rotational movement of the insert.
5. The clamp assembly of claim 2, wherein the insert includes a head portion having a plurality of upstanding bendable tabs that each receive a rotational force to cause rotation of the insert, and which bend into a flattened state when a predetermined rotational force being applied thereto is exceeded.
6. The clamp assembly of claim 5, wherein the head portion of the clamp body includes a recess within which the head portion of the insert rests.
7. The clamp assembly of claim 2, wherein the clamp body includes a first hole for receiving the insert therethrough, and a second hole for receiving a threaded shaft of the threaded fastener, the first and second holes further being longitudinally aligned with one another.
8. The clamp assembly of claim 2, wherein the head portion of the clamp body includes an additional shoulder that extends in a direction opposite to the shoulder, such that the shoulder, the additional shoulder and the neck portion cooperatively form a T-shape.
9. A clamp assembly comprising:
- a clamp body having a head portion, a neck portion and a pair of shoulders extending generally perpendicular to the neck portion, the shoulders adapted to overlay edges of a pair of adjacently positioned solar panel cells resting on a frame rail;
- the clamp body including a pair of aligned holes;
- an insert sized to be inserted through a first one of the aligned holes and into the neck portion through a first one of the holes, the insert having at least one tooth formed along its length, and
- a threaded fastener adapted to be inserted through a second one of the pair of aligned holes and pressed into the insert, and captured by the at least one tooth, the fastener having a head portion adapted to be captured within a channel of the frame rail such that rotation of the insert enables the insert to be threadably advanced onto the fastener, to thus enable the shoulders of the clamp body to be drawn against the edges of the pair of solar panel cells, to thus clamp the solar panel cells to the frame rail.
10. The clamp assembly of claim 9, wherein the insert includes a plurality of teeth formed thereon for grasping the threaded fastener when the insert is pushed onto the threaded fastener.
11. The clamp assembly of claim 9, wherein the insert includes a head portion having a plurality of circumferentially spaced, bendable tabs that are engaged with an external tool that applies a rotational torque to the insert, and wherein the bendable tabs bend into a flattened orientation with the head portion of the insert when a predetermined rotational torque is exceeded by the external tool.
12. The clamp assembly of claim 11, wherein the head portion of the clamp body includes a recess for housing the head portion of the insert, and wherein the tabs rest generally flush with a surface of the head portion of the clamp body when the tabs are bent into their flattened condition.
13. The clamp assembly of claim 9, wherein the fastener includes a threaded shaft portion, and wherein the threaded shaft portion and the head portion of the threaded fastener cooperatively form a T-shape.
14. The clamp assembly of claim 9, wherein the shoulders each include a plurality of serrations.
15. The clamp assembly of claim 9, wherein the head portion of the threaded fastener is sized relative to the channel such that it may be inserted into the channel when orientated parallel to a longitudinal axis of the channel, and then captured within the channel when rotated a degree to extend non-parallel to the longitudinal axis.
16. The clamp assembly of claim 9, wherein the clamp body includes a first one of the holes in the head portion of the clamp body and second one of the holes at a lower end of the clamp body.
17. A clamp assembly for clamping portions of a pair of solar panels to a frame rail, where the frame rail includes a longitudinally extending channel, the clamp assembly including:
- a clamp body having a head portion and a neck portion, the head portion further including a pair of shoulder portions extending laterally of the neck portion;
- a tubular insert adapted to be inserted along a portion of its length into the clamp body, the insert including a plurality of teeth formed along a tubular body portion thereon, and a head portion with at least one tab that is engageable within an external tool to permit the tool to drive the insert rotationally;
- a fastener having a threaded shaft and a head portion of dimensions permitting the head portion to be inserted into the channel of the frame rail in a first orientation and captured within the channel when rotated to a second orientation; and
- the fastener able to be pushed into the tubular body portion of the insert, and then the insert rotated using the external tool to draw the insert threadably onto the fastener, to clamp the solar panels between the shoulders and the frame rail.
18. The clamp assembly of claim 17, wherein the clamp body includes a pair of aligned holes, a first one of the pair of aligned holes receiving the insert therein.
19. The clamp assembly of claim 18, wherein a second one of the pair of aligned holes receives the fastener therein.
20. The clamp assembly of claim 17, wherein the clamp body includes a recess formed in the head portion of the clamp body, the recess receiving thereon the head portion of the insert.
Type: Application
Filed: Mar 8, 2010
Publication Date: Sep 8, 2011
Applicant: JAC-Rack, Inc. (Pontiac, MI)
Inventor: Jeffrey M. Aftanas (Ortonville, MI)
Application Number: 12/719,536
International Classification: F24J 2/52 (20060101);